Update Your Office With Experiential Design

NOVEMBER 9, 2018| SpeedPro Towson

Today, an engaging office environment is no longer a luxury reserved for millennial-driven startups or behemoth tech companies like Facebook or Google. Innovative, well-designed, creative work spaces are increasingly becoming a necessity across industries – especially as employee engagement dwindles.

While this certainly affects company culture and morale, recent studies also show there’s a strong positive correlation between employee engagement, productivity and company profits. Disengaged workers cost U.S. businesses up to $550 billion each year.

Now that we have your attention, you’re probably wondering how to prevent the disengagement epidemic from spreading to your office. One of the easiest ways is updating your work space with experiential design.

WHAT IS EXPERIENTIAL DESIGN?

Experiential design is the latest trend in transforming spaces and bringing your brand culture to life. It connects people to their environment, tells a valuable brand story and takes them away from solely passive interactions with their surroundings.

Experiential graphic design uses technology, form and traditional graphics to reach your intended audience on several different levels.  College campuses and local municipalities incorporate experiential graphics to immerse students and visitors. Companies across industries have used it to attract clients. And now, increasingly, corporate offices are using it to keep their employees engaged and happy in their creative, visual work space.

Gone are the days of beige cinder block walls and cubicle partitions. Experiential graphics can elevate your environment and transform bare, boring office walls into anything from a lush forest to a relaxing beach, or any other intriguing landscape you can imagine.

You can also use experiential graphics to promote different company-wide initiatives or themes, or simply create large visuals with your company logo and branding. Not only does a lively environment enhance morale and productivity, it will also help you secure top talent looking for a fun, engaging workplace.

HOW CAN I IMPLEMENT THIS AT MY OFFICE?

So, you’re ready to update your office with experiential design, but aren’t quite sure how or where to start. Here are a few pointers to get you moving in the right direction with your experiential office redesign:

• Use Your Existing Brand Guidelines– Your existing brand guidelines are the best place for a design team to start, when it comes to redoing your office. Try to keep color schemes and messaging consistent with your brand voice and story, so employees are clear on their mission every day they sit down at their desk.
• Focus Your Message– Chances are you have a strong, clear brand message or value proposition you tell clients to get them on board with your company. Many business owners don’t put the same amount of time or effort into communicating the “why” to employees at their company. It’s just as essential to communicate this with your staff, and remind them why they are important to you and their job matters. You might have to alter your employee-facing experiential design components to match a slightly different story than your brand message to clients. So, focus your message on the company culture you want to promote, and make sure you’re keeping employees motivated with an uplifting environment.
• Keep it Simple– With so many options available, it’s easy to go over-the-top with experiential design. But, when it comes to environmental design, sometimes less is more. Once you’ve focused your message, and decided what you want to communicate and to whom, it’ll be much easier to pinpoint a simple design strategy.

A well-designed office can make or break your team’s productivity. Don’t lose out on quality employees and impressive profits just because your work environment is outdated and boring. Upgrading your office with experiential design can instantly transform your environment, engage your employees and foster the company culture – and profitability – you want.

We can create a customized experiential design solution for you and your business, boosting engagement, productivity and revenue.